Drying machine



April-30, 1929, J, TRlULzl 1,711,188

DRYING MACHINE Filed July 12. 192'? 3 Sheets-Sheet l April 30, 1929. v J. TRluLzl.

DRYING MACHINE -Filed July 12. 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 'zfz'yff m. Hy, 5.

April 30, 1929. y J. TRLULZ| 1,711,188

DRY ING MACHINE Filed July 12'1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 7 r A I I Ml i L@ 3F Je@ Patented Apr. 30, l929.

entre stares JOSEPH TRIULZI, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, .ASSIGNOR 10 BRALY MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, F LOS ANGELES, CALIF DRYING DENIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

MACHINE.

Application filed July 12, 1927. Serial No. 205,102.

This invention has to do generally with drying machines, and is particularly well adapted for embodimentin machines for drying material such ras macaroni, though it is to be 5 understood it is in no way limited to this particular use.

However, due to its peculiar effectiveness in the drying of macaroni, l have chosen to 4describe themachine as put to this use. From i0 the understanding gainedfrom this discussion, those slrilled in the art will readily appreciate the diversiiied use to which a machine embodying the invention may be put. It may be stated at the outset, that the machine is not intended for drying long strips of macaroni, but rath-er, vso-called elbows or relatively short lengths of macaroni, the

length varying from a fraction of an vinch to adapted to keep the macaroni moving during the initial drying in such a manner that a continuous iiow of the material is being dri-ed as rapidly as it comes from the forming ma'n chine, and as the material passesr tlirough the machine it is constantly rolled or tumbled about so that all sides ofthe individual pieces are exposed to the drying medium, thus insuring even treatment.

Not only does a superior product result from this continuous feeding of the material, bi t considerable economic advantage 1s gained due to the fact that it requires but a single attendant for themachine and that a large bulk of mat'erialis being continuously Vdried without the necessity of it being disposed on drying trays and then transported into drying chambers with the attendantloss of time and requirement of constant labor on the part of several operators. v

Generally, l accomplish the'y above byk the llhe drying alforded by provision of a drum having a double peripheral wall andmeans for advancing the macaroni or other articles to be dried between the walls and .axially of the drum. This progress of the macaroni between the drum walls is comparatively slow, the time consumed being such that the draft of air passing through the perforated drum walls from within has ample time to have the proper initial drying action on the macaroni. rDuring its passage between the walls, the individual pieces of macaroni Y are rolled or tumb-led about in a manner eX- iesing all their superficial surfaces to the action of the drying air. l y

rl`he device may also be considered asl a drum having a plurality of compartments'extending longitudinally thereof, with `means for advancing the macaroni through said compartments, the drum being rotatable in order to bring the compartments successively into registration with a feeding chute so the charging of the drum may be continuous.

ldhile the invention may be considered as broadly covering the provision of a rotatable Adrum with means for advancing material ythrough con'ipartn'ients `extending longitudinally thereof, irrespective of the particular advancing means, a further and preferred feature, though notan essential, is the provisionof advancing means operable by virtue of rotation -of the drum, and as a still further )referablc though not necessarv feature thisl` advancing means may be stationary withv respect to the drum. The last-named feature is advantageous not only by reason of the consequent 'reduction in i number of l parts and hence increased simplicity of the machine, but are also in that there is less likelihood of tdamage to the'macaroni vas it passes through the machine. `In other words, werev the advancing means to be movable with respect to the compartment i Yalls, it will be appreciated that damage or mutilation of the macaroni might result byreason of being caught between the stationary and moving parts. On the other hand by fashioning the advancing means in such a manner that it is lined with respect to the drum, there is no relative movement of parts within the compartments, and consequently there is no danger of the maca# roni beingdrawn in between parts and there-V by mutilated..

4Other objects and novel featuresl of the invention will be set iloith in the accompanying detailed. description, reference being rad to the accompanying drawings, in Wiiich Fig. l is a side elevation ol a. machine einbodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a, view of Fig. l as viewed from the right thereof;

Fig. et is a view of Fig. l, as viewed lrom the left thereof;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 oi' Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary section on line 6-6 olf Fig. l;

Fig. 7 is a l? agm-entary, perspective view of one ot the material. advancing compartments;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged7 'tragmei'rlary view o'l the delivery or discharge e l oil the drinn;

llig. 9 is a section on line G4-S) ot lllig. tl;

lFig. l is a plan view of a n'iodilied lerrn oit housing delining a i'naterial advancing compartment Fig. ll is an. enlarged section on line llll of Fig. l0;

Fig. l2 is a sectional view7 partly in eleva tion, oli' a variational embodiment ol the inn vention;

Fig. 13 is a reduced section on line l-ll of Fig. l2; and

Fig. lelis a fragmentary section through another variational form of means :tor adiancing material through the machine.

Numeral lO designates gei'ierally a drum mounted. 'for rotation between stationarily mounted end il ames ll and 19. The drum includes a skeleton lrai'iievvorlf l?) oit cylindrical form, made up oil end spiders ll, l5, and longitudinally extending bars lll. secured to said spiders at l? and thus tying them together.

Spiders l/land l5 have outivardly extending. axial hubs lll and l). respectivelyU tls iso hubsl being tabula' and being jonriallei boxes 2U and 2i on iframes 1l and l2 resp ctively.

rr ialt 252, coaxial with the nailed near one cnil E3 in the bore oiE hub and the other en ..1 is jourinilled i-ii the iin ,i ol `\vorni\vheel 26. which Wheel-hub is keyed at il? to spider-linb lt 'follows that rotation el Wheel .26 gives angular inovonicul' to spider l5, and hence to the drum. while shalt 22 is tble ol rotation with respect l i the drinn.

The drinn is rotated by nioter M through belt 28 and the reductioi'i gearing `genorally indicated at 29 and oil which wornuvheel 26 is a part. rlihe mot-or speed and drive connection is such that the anoular velocity ol the drinn is comparatively low, for instance. 1/3 lt. l). M., though it will be understood the speed here given is in no Way to be considered as limitative.

Shaft 22 is adapted to be revolved at coinparatively high speed, for instance, SGO ll. M. by motor M. there being` a pulley drunn is jou' nririas and belt connection 30 between the motor and shaft. rllie shalt is adapt-ed to drive one or more fans positioned Within the drinn. llllhile tie number and ty e or lans are optional, l have here illustrated tivo `lans F and li", each consisting of a pair-'ot spiders 3l secured to shalt E22 and connected b j fan blades 31d. These lian blades are prelierably inclined longitudinally with respect to the axis ol the drum, so they are adapted te draw air in from the ends ol' the skeleton trame between the arms o'lE the traine spiders and to l'orce said air substantially radially outward towards, and, as will be hereinafter described7 through the inner and outer drinn Walla.

Thus it will be seen that the drum is adapted to be rotated coniparatively slowly 'hilo the lans are driven with coinl'iaratively great speed, the di'i'ijerential in aigular velocity being allowed by reason oi the hub bearings hereinlj/ci'ore d scribed. K

Secured to bars li as at lli 8) are a plurality.otradial, angularly spaced partiH tion plates 3% which deline the sie es of compartments said conipartnients extending longitudinall);T l'roin end to end oil' the drum.-

l/Vithin these compartments are means for advancing mate al from one drinn-end to the other, and wl le my broader claims conteniplate any sui able means t\ accoi'nplish this advance9 it is preferable 'that saidnieans operi ted by virtue ol driii rotation. anfl that the m ins e station vith rospo the dra loven with the two cenr'iitions existing, 'the advancing means may vary in forni to a considerable degree. but sncli variations are Within the spirit and cope the broader claims )ended hereto.

l will iirst desciibe the advancing means shown inlllig. 2, and later will set forth several variatioi s thereof. l'n the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the material advaA ce l n 'is gained by virtue or the forniatien or the inner and outer deiining` walls con'ipai'tments 53. and said vvalls may generi ily be described as of sa-wtooth formation, the points olli the teeth oit one wall being` gered or out oil ladial alignment with respoot to the teeth ol the other wall. lhus7 the inner "fall Bil of a given compartment has portions inclined with `reilapect te the afgis oit' the drinn, and portions Se which are sul,

stantially at right angles to said axis. The outer wall 3'? has oppositely inclined portions v alls is not limitativa lli) Vdrunistarts to rotate.

for such inclination may be varied within quite a wide rangek without rendering the device inoperative; it is only necessary that the walls ot the inner and outer pockets be so relatively arranged and so inclined that given articles will, at certain periods o1" operation, gravitate thereover, and that the bottom ot a given pocket is in radial alignment with an article-advancing, inclined wall of the substantially opposite pocket. Thus, talre the typical case of adjacent inner pockets A and B and the substantially opposite outer pockets C and D. The walls 35 ot poclrets A and l and the walls 38 ot pockets C and D may be considered as advancing walls, it being noted that the advancing walls oit the inner and outer pockets incline oppositely, and that tl e bottom 42 ot' pocket A lies tothe right or' bottom 43 of pocket C, that pocket bottom 43 lies to the right ot bottom 44 ot pocketv B, and that bottom 44 lies to the right ot' bottom et pocket D. This arrangement may be expressed otherwise by stating that the bottom of a given inner or outer pocket lies intermediate the ends of an advancing wall ot a substantially opposite outer or inner pocket.

lilith the above arrangement in mind, it will be well to discuss at this point the advance of material longitudinally ot the drum, disregarding for the time being the particular means employed tor introducing the material to the compartments. In this discus tion pockets at the lower part of the machine and diametrically opposite pockets A, B, C and D, will be given similar, but primed reference characters, it being assumed that 1800 angular movement ot the drum brings pockets A, B, C and D to the positions indicated by characters A', B', C, and D respectively. lt will ot course be obvious that a single rotation ot the drum bodily rotates a given compartment through 3G00.

Assume that material. rc3-macaroni, tor instance As the drum rotates insa counter-cloclrwise direction, as viewed in ltig. l, material S drops trom pocket A onto advancing wall 38 ot pocket C, and by the time the drum has rotated through 1800,.the material will have gravitated over said advancing wall 38 to the bottom 43 oi" pocket C in itsl position ot' C. As the drum continues rotating the material drops trom pocket C onto the advancingl wall 35 ot pocket B. and by the time the drum has completed a single revolution the material will. have slid down this wall 35 into the bottom 44 otl pocket lt will thus be seen that a single rotationV et the drum has advanced the material from one pocket to the next, and consequently that continued rotation of the drum slowly but regularly advances the material fromend to end oi' the compartment or ot Vthe drum.

lies within the pocket A, and that the` thereinto by the main duct.

During this passage the material is rolled or tumbled about in a manner to expedite dryingand to expose all its superiicial area to drying' action.

Main dependence is had tor this drying action on the fans F and F, some or all ot the inner and outer wall portions being perforated as at l) to allow the passage of fandriven air substantially radially through the compartments. However', this dratt is. not sufficiently strong to blow the materialout ot the pockets. Y

I will new describe the prelerred means tor feeding the material to the drum compartments. At. the right hand end ot the Se machine, as viewed in Fig. 1,'the comparey ment ends are closed by a ring-plate 46 stationarily mounted on member 4'? secured to end trame l2 at 48. However, ring-plate 46 has at its .lower side an opening 49 in register Cil with one or more of the compartments and a feeding' chute 50 is secured at its delivery end 51 to plate 46 and opens to ape 1'ture 49.

YVhile the material to be dried may be adfanced through chute and thereby delivered to the entrance mouths ot the compartments in any suitable manner, I pre'ler to provide a blower 52a iaving a delivery duct 52 opening to chute 50 at 53, this blower being adapted to eject the material i'rom chute 50 and force it into the entry mouths 33 et the compartments. lWhile this isnot essential, l also prefer to provide an auxiliary blower duct 54 leading from duct 52 and opening through plate 46 to a plurality of entry mouths 33a, as at 55 (Fig. 2). T ie auxiliary duct discharge is angularly spaced at aplll() proximately 900, though this angle is not controlline' At the lett hand end of the machine viewed in Fig. l), the compartments are closed by inclined advancing walls 38h, eX- cept for the relativelyrestricted delivery or discharge mouths 5G. A diseha chute 57 is supported 'from trame ll as by braces 58, and the chute is of a width, as viewed in Fig. 4, to take in a plurality of dischargemouths. v However, in order thatmatorial may not be linally discharged until it has been. carried up to the mouth ot the discharge chute, l prefer to provide catchers 59 (Figs. 8 and 9) which are in the form ot angles secured to the eX- tensions .32a ot' partition vplates 32. These angles extend partially across each pocket in the direction of drum rotation and serve `to catch such material as may pass out ofl the discharge mouths prior to the time said y mouths register with the discharge chute.

It will be notedv that` the assembly above described niay be considerer as a rotatable drinn having; a double vall (inner wall 3ft and Outer vvall 37), the tivo Walls being` radially spaced, and means for adyancing` material longitudinally of the drinn and between said Walls. The tan inay be described as ineans provided for passing air or a d rying inediiiin through the space between the tivo drinn Walle, the direction air passage, preferably, though not necessarily, being' subs antially adial ln Figs. l0 and il l have sho 'vn a sonieivhzit siinpler niethod oLt forming the eoinparti'nent advancing` Walls. ln this case the inner Wall is niade up ot l ng-ti oli screen drfiivn over pins 60, which e3: rend loetivee:L a "i r partition plates 32, while outer wall 37a is inade up et a strip oi" screen drawn over pii s (il which extend between plates 32. lt will be seen that the 'formation o't the poclrefs is substantially the saine as above described in connection with 'the olie figures, and that rotation oi the eoinpartinent through driini rotation causes advance of material. through the coniliartinent in the inanner described above.

ln Figs. l2 and i8 l have shown another variation ivherein compartments 3Q are defined by cylindrical tubes '2 arranged in a ring about the periphery ot the drinn, each tube being` inade up ot screenin rlfhe ine-ans 'for advancinpy ii'aiterial through these coini'iartinents, which correspond with compartinents are 'vfornis or spirals (S-3, supported eir oiliposite ends Si in spiders lll a.. d l5. spirals may also be considered as supdrip; n'ieans tor the tubes. rllhe rest or" the machine in be substantially the saine as that descrilfied above.

lit will be seen that as the drinn rotates, the spirals or ivornis, which are preferably held stationary with respect to the drinn, serve to advance the n' atei-iai longitudinally throng-jh compartments 32, the' delivery to .the coinpartnieifits and discharge tl'iereilfron'i beineI eenerally siinilar to that previously described. ii this case, however, the material, 'instead ot being;` dropped troni one eoinpz rtinent wall lo another, inei'fely rolls bout the peripheries ot the coinpartnient walls, thus eiiiposii the material 'tally and evenly to the ell'ect et the drying' inediinn,

ln Fig. lit have shoir i another variatimi. 1e arrangeinwit being substantially like shown in Figi', l2 except that the central tot the spiral is oinittcd. ln other words, 'for spi al G3 is substitut )d a spiral 'liange (35i, seein-ed. in any desired inanner to screen 52. As a nieans for stii'lening the screen tube and holding it properly in position l provide a plurality ot rods 66, spot Welded or otherivizie suitably secured to screen 52, and tern'iinally held at 6"? by piders 15. lt Will be apparent that the spiral tlange advances the inaterial through the coinpartinent 32h, ust it is adapted 'to be ted through compartment 32* by worin (323 ln the variations shown in Figs. l2 and le it will be seen that the device inay still be considered as a drinn having a double Wall, the Walls being radially spaced, with ineens t'or advancing material longitudinally ot the drinn between said Walls, and that the fans disposed within the drinn are adapted to direct air or a drying,` niediinn through said Wal-ls and hence through the compartments d e tin ed. thereby.

lt'ivill be understood the drawings and description are to be considered inerely as illusbroaeer trative ot and not restrictive on the claiins appended hereto, for vz rions e in design, structure and arrangements runde iviihoiit departing iti-oni the spirit and scope ot `said claims.

l claiin: f l. ln a device of the character descril ed, a rotatable drnin having a plurality ot conipartineigt.; extend ini.; longitudinally in the di rection et the axis oit rotation ot the drinn, each compartment einig` delined by relatively iixed aiid apertured Walls, means tor rotating` the drinn, ineens yWithin eae 1 coinpart- A if, 1.,. 1 M .'L. i:-. nient toi leerling inaieriai lonanudina ly being therethrough, said coinparnien grouped in a circle about and 'eine radially spaced. foin 'the drinn axis, and ineans in the d ruin inside the compartment group lor forcing,Y air radially outward through the aper* tiired ival s et the coinpartinents.

2. In a device of the character a rotatable drinn. haviri a plural@ deseri ed,

of coini the diie drinn, 1

p a rti'nents exten din lengitudin al rection ot the axis rotaJ each coin nt being;` tie'i relatively fixed and zpeitiired ivalls, n'ieans tor rotating; the di, n, a spiral Within each coinil artnient lor iteedinke; inaterial le .tiidinally therethrough, said compartment beine` ,irronped in a eifele about an d being); radially spaced tron; 'the 'drinn axis. and ineans n 'the eriiin i1 ide tle cenipartinent i i ifo-reine a r i, i l im i radially outward through the aigiertiired-ivall oit' the conipartinents.

ln. witness that l claiin the foregoing l have hereunto subscribed niy naine this 3l diy ol May, 1927. 

